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- Beeton, Michael L., et al.
(author)
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Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections, 11 countries in Europe and Israel, 2011 to 2016
- 2020
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In: Eurosurveillance. - : EUR CENTRE DIS PREVENTION & CONTROL. - 1025-496X .- 1560-7917. ; 25:2, s. 39-51
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia, with large epidemics previously described to occur every 4 to 7 years.Aim: To better understand the diagnostic methods used to detect M. pneumoniae; to better understand M. pneumoniae testing and surveillance in use; to identify epidemics; to determine detection number per age group, age demographics for positive detections, concurrence of epidemics and annual peaks across geographical areas; and to determine the effect of geographical location on the timing of epidemics.Methods: A questionnaire was sent in May 2016 to Mycoplasma experts with national or regional responsibility within the ESCMID Study Group for Mycoplasma and Chlamydia Infections in 17 countries across Europe and Israel, retrospectively requesting details on M. pneumoniae-positive samples from January 2011 to April 2016. The Moving Epidemic Method was used to determine epidemic periods and effect of country latitude across the countries for the five periods under investigation.Results: Representatives from 12 countries provided data on M. pneumoniae infections, accounting for 95,666 positive samples. Two laboratories initiated routine macrolide resistance testing since 2013. Between 2011 and 2016, three epidemics were identified: 2011/12, 2014/15 and 2015/16. The distribution of patient ages for M. pneumoniae-positive samples showed three patterns. During epidemic years, an association between country latitude and calendar week when epidemic periods began was noted.Conclusions: An association between epidemics and latitude was observed. Differences were noted in the age distribution of positive cases and detection methods used and practice. A lack of macrolide resistance monitoring was noted.
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| 2. |
- Dumke, Roger, et al.
(author)
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Multi-center evaluation of one commercial and 12 in-house real-time PCR assays for detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae
- 2017
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In: Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC. - 0732-8893 .- 1879-0070. ; 88:2, s. 111-114
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae by real-time PCR is not yet standardized across laboratories. We have implemented a standardization protocol to compare the performance of thirteen commercial and in-house approaches. Despite differences on threshold values of samples, all assays were able to detect at least 20 M. pneumoniae genomes per reaction.
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| 3. |
- Seth-Smith, Helena M. B., et al.
(author)
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Ongoing evolution of Chlamydia trachomatis lymphogranuloma venereum : exploring the genomic diversity of circulating strains
- 2021
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In: Microbial Genomics. - : Microbiology Society. - 2057-5858. ; 7:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), the invasive infection of the sexually transmissible infection (STI) Chlamydia trachomatis, is caused by strains from the LGV biovar, most commonly represented by ompA- genotypes L2b and L2. We investigated the diversity in LGV samples across an international collection over seven years using typing and genome sequencing. LGV- positive samples (n=321) from eight countries collected between 2011 and 2017 (Spain n=97, Netherlands n=67, Switzerland n=64, Australia n=53, Sweden n=37, Hungary n=31, Czechia n=30, Slovenia n=10) were genotyped for pmpH and ompA variants. All were found to contain the 9 bp insertion in the pmpH gene, previously associated with ompA- genotype L2b. However, analysis of the ompA gene shows ompA- genotype L2b (n=83), ompA- genotype L2 (n=180) and several variants of these (n=52; 12 variant types), as well as other/mixed ompA-genotypes (n=6). To elucidate the genomic diversity, whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed from selected samples using SureSelect target enrichment, resulting in 42 genomes, covering a diversity of ompA- genotypes and representing most of the countries sampled. A phylogeny of these data clearly shows that these ompA- genotypes derive from an ompA- genotype L2b ancestor, carrying up to eight SNPs per isolate. SNPs within ompA are overrep-resented among genomic changes in these samples, each of which results in an amino acid change in the variable domains of OmpA (major outer membrane protein, MOMP). A reversion to ompA- genotype L2 with the L2b genomic backbone is commonly seen. The wide diversity of ompA- genotypes found in these recent LGV samples indicates that this gene is under immunological selection. Our results suggest that the ompA- genotype L2b genomic backbone is the dominant strain circulating and evolving particularly in men who have sex with men (MSM) populations.
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